Air-heating-control system



O. C. HATCH AIR HEATING CONTROL SYSTEM Oct. 12 1926. 1,603,107

Filed March 14. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 AIR 51-01206:

INVENTOR Orville a Hatch BY v Oct. 12 1926. 1,603,107

- o..c. HATCH AIR HEATING CONTROL SYSTEM Filed March 14. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet :1

I4- I 3 4o 6 j o 5 o L Eu: 4. 001.0 c 62 6/ mg f u o Orville c.v Hatch Patented Oct. 12, I926.

UNITED STATES OBVIILE C. HATCH, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

AIR-HEATING-CONTROL SYSTEM.

Application filed March 14, 1925. ,Serial No. 15,527.

My invention relates to controlling systems as applied to air-heating systems of buildings, wherein a forced circulation is used, and where supply to the radiators is capable of being drawn either from the interior of the building or from without the same, and in which the circulation during the preliminary sta'ges of getting up to the desired temperature is takenfrom within the'building, and thereafter in whole or in part from without the building.

The object of my invention is to provide a means for automatic control of all of the various dampers which it is essential to employ, whereby the inlet dampers, when. the system is in cooled condition are set so as to cut off the supply of air from the outside I of the building and to draw the same entirely from within the building until a certain temperature of the rooms being heated has been reached, and thereafter to operate with the supply drawn from the outside air and also to exercise a second control which applying them.

aifects the amount of air passed through the radiator, and thereby the amount of heat "added to the air in the room, the whole being done automatically.

Mv invention consists in so coupling all of the various dampers employed in controlling the air circulation, that thev. may be effectively controlled entirely from and by the thermostat control mechanism which has previously been employed for controlling the temperature of the room.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention in a somewhat diagrammatic manner, but sufliciently to illustrate the principles thereof and the manner of Figure -l shows in a diagrammatic manner the elements entering into the system.

Figure 2 shows in partial section the manner of connecting the various dampers and r the automatic control means therefor.

In what is known in the trade as the unitheating system, it is customary to employ a radiator which is enclosed within a casing or chamber and provided with partitions or other means whereby the air circulated in the room is passed either wholly or in part through the radiator to be heated, or through another passage about the radiator, whereby .the air so Joy-passed will not be heated by the radiator. Such devices are in common use and the damper which controls the disawar o these have been operated to shift the tribution of the air to the radiator orv through the by-pass, is automatically controlled by a thermosta-tically-actuated mechanism located somewhere in the room. In connection with such apparatus it is common to employ two inlet or supply valves or dampers one communicating with and drawing its supply from the room or other interior of the building, and the other-communicating with and drawing its supply from without the building.

In the operation of such a device the two inlet dampers are, or may be, connected to be operated together, but so far as 'I am source of supply as between the interior and exterior of the building by hand. By

my invention these are connected up with the same'means employed to control the distributing damper so as to be operated thereby but in advance of the distributing damper, whereby the distributing damper is not open to by-pass the circulated air until the temperature as affecting the thermostat has reached a certain point.

In the device illustrated in Figure 1, 1 represents a casing in which is mounted a radiator 10, supplied with steam or other heating agent through pipes 11 and 12. In

this same casing, or in a chamber communicating therewith, is located a motor 13 having a fan or fans 14 operated thereby, whereby a forced circulation of air is produced. I In connection with an accept-ed and commonly used type of thermostat, of which one is represented at 2, a'pressure air operating system is employed. This, as illustrated employs a compressor-20, operated from a motor 21, an air storage tank 22 and pipes 23 and 24, one leading from the storage tank to the thermostat, and the other discharging the air.

The air discharged from the thermostat is conducted to the mechanism which is employed for controlling the damper-s. Such a mechanism is illustrated in Figure 2. This may, and preferably is, included in or associated with the casing which contains the radiator. This casing has a damper 3 located so as to control a by-pass passage 30, whereby the air being circulated may be caused to either pass through the radiator or topass by the radiator without being heated. Two inlets for air are shown be drawn from without the building, and

the other, as 5, controls the air which may be drawn from within the building. These are connected as by links 40 and 50 so as to be operated together but in inverserela;

tion, one opening as the other closes, In the construction illustrated these two links, are connected with a lever as 6, pivoted at 60, and actuating a rod 61 which enters a casing 62 of the device by which the power is applied to the dampers to controlthem. This device may be any kind. of a iston and cylinder device which is capab e of movement under variations of air pressure. The lever 6 isdrawn in one direction by a. spring 63 or by any equivalent means. The operating air is delivered to the mechanisms through the pipe 24. A similar device is shown as applied to the distributing damper 3. The construction'of this is slightly diflerent, although the principles. are the same.

- It is evident "that if air under pressure he introduced to the cylinder orchamber 62 and if the piston in this chamber be a diaphragm, such diaphragm, or an equivalent piston if one be employed, will be moved against the action of the spring 63, the exintensity of the pressure.

tent of the movement depending upon the Such movement will, through the connecting mechanisms described, swing the dam ers. When, however, the pressure in t e cylinder is "reduced, the spring will cause the diaphragm to move'baclgward and the dampers are swung in an opposite direction.

In connection with one or both of these pressure-operated controlling means, I provide means for adjusting the tension of the spring. Such means as illustrated in Figure 2, consist of a nut 64 threaded upon a stem 65'passing. through the spring so as to adjust the initial tension of the spring. It is evident that if the spring of the device controlling the distributing damper 3 be. adjusted so as to require a higher pres:

.sure to operate it so as to open the damper 3 thereby to by-pass air about the radiator,

than that required for operating'the device which controls the inlet dampers 4 and 5, said inlet dampers, will be operated so as to c'lose'thatone which draws. air from draw the supply from outside, .and thereafter the distributingdamper will be adjusted so as to control the amount of the circulated air which passes through the radiator, and thereby control the heat in the room.

By connecting the supply dampers in this manner so as to be controlled automatically from the thermostat which is now em-- ployed in the room, it will be unnecessary to manually attend to the shifting of the inlet dampers. This will avoid the necessity of having control mechanisms from the various unit heating devices running to a central station or to dispense with the movement of any person around to a number of such unit heating systems to'shift the damper at the time required. This work is also thus done automatically and when the temperature is right, whereasif the change is done manually it is liable in most cases to be done a little too early or a little too late. Also, when a number of rooms are. con- --nected so that the change is made simultaneously from a central station, it is likely to be done in many rooms before they become properly heated, and not to be done in other rooms until after the have become over-- heated. The system fection the equable control of the'heat.

The successive operation of the twosets of dampers may be secured by varying the areas of the diaphragms or istons which control the dampers. By ma ing the area of the diaphragm which controls the inlet dampers larger than the area of the diaphragm which controls the distributing damper, the inlet dampers will be shifted in advance of the distributing dam er when the springs of the two have equal e ect. Varying the diaphragm or piston area is broad- 1y an equivalent of varying the spring tenslon.

While I have shown two dampers controlling the inlet openings and one distributingdamper, it is ev1dent that a single damper or a double damper may be used at either place, or-the arrangement may be reversed from that shown.

What I claim as my invention is: 1. In a unit heating and ventilating s stem, the combination of a casing provi ed with an outlet opening and inlet openings communicating with difierent sources of air supply, dampers controlling said inlet opens ings and operatively connected togetherv whereby one is opened as the other is closed, a radiator in said casing, and a by-passage between said inlet openings and said outlet, a damper for controlling the passage of .air throughsaid by-passage, and thermostatic apparatus connected with said inlet and bypass dampers and adapted to be adjusted to actuate said dampers successively at a predetermined temperature of the space to be heated and ventilated.

ere proposed, while saving labor, accomplishes to greater per'' 2. In aiunit heating and ventilating sys- 9 tom, the combination of a casing havingan an outlet and air inlets communicating with diflerentsources of air supply, a radiator in said housing between said inlet and outlet,

' a damper in said housin aranged to by-pass the air around said ra iator, dampers controlling said inlet opemngs, thermostatic mechanism connecting said inlet dampers to simultaneously open one and close the other,

and separate thermostatic mechanism connected with said by-pass damper and ad-- diflerent temperature justed to operate at a inlet damper mechto function at a different pressure.

4. In a heating and ventilating unit, the combination of a casing having inlet openings communicating with different sources of air supply and an air'outlet, a radiator in said casing between said inlet and outlet openings, a by-pass damper operative to direct all or part of the air from either of said inlets through said radiator, thermostatic mechanism for operating said inlet dampers simultaneously to open one and close theother, and separate thermostatic mechanism connected with said by-pass, said mechanisms being operated from a common source of air pressure, and the latter adjusted to function at a different pressure.

5. In a unit heating system, a radiator and a casing therefor having passages directing. the circulated air either through -the radiator or to by-pass the radiator, a distrlbutmg damper controlling the disposition of the air passing the .radiator, two inlet dampers controlling the supply of air being circulated, one communicating ,with the building interior and the other with the outside air, two fluid pressureactuated controlling means, one connected withthe two inlet .dampers to move them oppositely and the other with the distributing damper, the latfor controlling means being adjusted to work ata higher pressure than the former, and'a common pressure air supply to-both of said controlling means.

Signed at Seattle, King County, Washington, this 25th day of February, 1925.

\ ORVILLE o. HATCH. 

